Todd Lockwood Laid Off By WOTC! (thread necromancy)

[wbmcdermott]

Rather than assume that someone at WotC is really stupid, you should probably ask this before posting to this thread: why does no other RPG publisher keep in-house artists? For that matter, leaving the relatively small world of RPG publishing, why don't big boys like Tor, Del Rey, Bantam or others keep in house artists?

I mean, really? If it's such a stupid move, why has everyone else been doing it that way for years?

The reason that WotC did have its own artists on staff is that all of their products are art and/or design driven. Sure the rules of the game are the most important thing, but it is the art and design that draws you into each and every one of their games.

What do you first notice when you open a new D&D book or look through a pack of Magic cards or (for the younger crowd) look at a new set of Harry Potter cards? You see the art. This is what set WotC apart, IMHO, and was a large part of Peter's vision for Magic when Richard Garfield first came to him. He wanted a game that showcased fantasy art. And it worked. Magic was such a success that Peter was able to live his boyhood dream and buy D&D. That same philosophy was put into effect on the design of 3E. The artists and designers spent as much time on the look of the new game as the game designers did on the rules.

WotC uses more art than any other company you mentioned. Novels have art on the cover. Period. Most d20 companies just don't have the budget to use more art than a color cover piece, some maps, and a few black-and-white illos. I for one am saddened by this development. It says to me that art is no longer as important to WotC as it once was. But that is what set them apart from everyone else.

Sure, WotC can use freelancers to fill the pages with art, but the onsite artists (and the design staff, which was also "gutted") made WotC products look better than anything else on the market. I think the truth we have to face is that WotC is becoming a smaller company; one that will soon be indistinguishable from all of the other small companies who can't afford their own in-house artists and game designers.

Todd will land on his feet. He is in the top 5, IMHO, of all fantasy artists out there today, and he will make a lot of money doing freelance or whatever he wants to do. But I believe that his passing from WotC (along with the loss of their design staff) will hurt the games we love.

Sabre

 

[hong]

Hey Hong, check out the other thread for your new character pic!!

-Will

I must say, that captures all the subtle nuances of the character's personality and outlook perfectly. I particularly like the inscrutable expression on his face, which could interpreted in many different ways, depending on your take on his role in the story. And the complex shadings of grey in his sword are clearly symbolic of the moral ambiguities that he has to deal with in his world, which is far more complex than would appear at first glance. All in all, it's an existential hurdy-gurdy whirling in a sea of fleeting, mercurial sensations.

The exploding rabbit in the background is just gravy.


Hong "now I wanna see iconic stick Mialee" Ooi

 

[Horacio]

Hong "now I wanna see iconic stick Mialee" Ooi

Have you seen Stick-Lidda in the new Art forum thread?

Let's continue there to not hikjack this thread

 

[LcKedovan]

I must say, that captures all the subtle nuances of the character's personality and outlook perfectly. I particularly like the inscrutable expression on his face, which could interpreted in many different ways, depending on your take on his role in the story. And the complex shadings of grey in his sword are clearly symbolic of the moral ambiguities that he has to deal with in his world, which is far more complex than would appear at first glance. All in all, it's an existential hurdy-gurdy whirling in a sea of fleeting, mercurial sensations.

The exploding rabbit in the background is just gravy.


Hong "now I wanna see iconic stick Mialee" Ooi

Hong, I am so glad you were happy with my interpretation, in fact I have posted him in the Art forum as well as begun the iconic stick figure series for your enjoyment. Enjoy!

-Will

 

[Horacio]

Hong, I am so glad you were happy with my interpretation, in fact I have posted him in the Art forum as well as begun the iconic stick figure series for your enjoyment. Enjoy!

-Will

I'd already said that, Will

 

[Bloodstone de Troll]

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It does bring up the question of whether a RPG company really needs to have their artists on permanently rather than using a group of freelancers.
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It is cheaper to have someone on salary than freelance. You can make the artist belt out work all day every day, and hes already contracted etc. Without a steady supply of products to justify a staff illustrator busy, it is hard to justify his position.

And as somebody else posted, the core stuff is done, and as a freelancer. Todd will probably be able to contribute more to Dragon Magazine now that its is no longer WOTC property, and WOTC will probably continue calling on him for FR products that he can charge them out the wazoo for.

We will see plenty more of him I am sure.

 

[hong]

Have you seen Stick-Lidda in the new Art forum thread?

Let's continue there to not hikjack this thread

You're only saying that because Crothian isn't here.

For anyone interested in, um, minimalist art:

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24933

 

[Horacio]

You're only saying that because Crothian isn't here.

I wouldn't see correct to hikjack this thread, it's a serious one. We can hikjack Will's art thread, of course

 

[wbmcdermott]

It is cheaper to have someone on salary than freelance. You can make the artist belt out work all day every day, and hes already contracted etc. Without a steady supply of products to justify a staff illustrator busy, it is hard to justify his position.

Absolutely wrong. The salary a company pays an employee is less than half of the cost to the company of that employee. The cost of insurance benefits and overhead items like a desk, computer, lighting, heating, pencils, paints, etc. add up to a lot of money that the company pays for. By forcing all of their best talent to work for them as freelancers, WotC (and Hasbro) save a bundle of money. And that is money that the freelancer now has to spend on his own, so he or she makes less money even if the pay is the same or even double what he or she made before.

Now, this may look like a great financial decision for a company, but it isn't in the long rung because those talented people will eventually begin working for someone else to make enough money to survive, so even if they are still doing the same work for you that they were before (which they can't really do by law -- it is illegal to lay someone off and then hire them on contract to do the same work), they are no longer giving you 100 percent of their time (in many cases 150 percent of their time because these people put in ridiculous amounts of overtime that they do not get paid for because they are salaried).

Todd Lockwood totally devoted to D&D and Magic: The Gathering is far better for WotC than Todd Lockwood doing Freelance for every competitor and doing some work for WotC when he has time. Of course, in my opinion, this is far better for Todd Lockwood and for his fans.

Sabre

 

[Desdichado]

Absolutely wrong. The salary a company pays an employee is less than half of the cost to the company of that employee. The cost of insurance benefits and overhead items like a desk, computer, lighting, heating, pencils, paints, etc. add up to a lot of money that the company pays for. By forcing all of their best talent to work for them as freelancers, WotC (and Hasbro) save a bundle of money. And that is money that the freelancer now has to spend on his own, so he or she makes less money even if the pay is the same or even double what he or she made before.

Well, that kind of depends on the company, doesn't it? Making sweeping generalizations about the cost of benefits and the overhead burden rate assigned to each employee isn't likely to win you any arguments. And its a bit misleading to say that suddenly Lockwood has to pay for his pencils, lighting, computer, etc. because 1) he probably has all that stuff at home anyway -- Lockwood has freelanced even with the steady WotC job, so his additional expenses will be minimal to non-existant, and 2) he pays what he uses, not some generic overhead that is allocated to him by accounting. The costs of doing this yourself are much lower. You're making it sound like picking up a few pencils and having the lights turned on a few more hours a day is going to completely stiff freelancers relative to their pay. That just isn't so.